The Feeding House

by Savill, Josh

  The two spoke for over an hour but it felt like only minutes as the time flew by without either of them even noticing. It would not be long now until Missy had to start working this upset Jack ever so slightly as during their conversation Jack had really felt that they had formed a sort of bond that was, for now, friendship but it felt as though it could be pushed further and made into something else, maybe even love. But that was a thought better saved for the future. One thing was sure they both seemed very keen to spend more time with the other.

  Missy told Jack about her family and her early life about how she grew up not knowing her mother and how she had an abusive father. She was the oldest child of six and would usually have to spend her days looking after her brothers and sisters while her dad went off every night to get drunk and start fights. This of course eventually ended quite badly for him as it always does with people like that.

  It wasn’t short after Missy’s fifteenth birthday that her dad disappeared for a couple of days. All she knew about it was that he had gone out one evening, like he always did, and hadn’t returned. He had a job working in the stables for a little bit of money; enough to feed the hungry mouths at home at least but it was getting to the point where, if he didn’t come home soon, there would be no money for anything. Missy had tried going to the police about it but they didn’t seem to want much to do with her being so young. They just said that they were looking for him. He was notorious with the police as a trouble maker so it didn’t seem as though they were ever going to put much effort into it anyway.

  It was about a week later that missy’s fathers body was found dumped just outside of the city borders he had been there for quite a while and apparently he was barely recognisable. Missy regaled Jack with the tale of the horror that she felt when she had to identify his body. It was an image that even to this day she could still not get out of her mind. His corpse was bruised and battered. Someone had really beaten on him hard. It was always going to end up this way it was only a matter of time before he would start a fight with the wrong person.

  Missy was left with the house which they were soon to be evicted from if they didn’t start coughing up some money and a lot of hungry mouths to feed as well. She had no skills as her dad had never taught her anything, and her brothers were no help in the fields what with a role model like their father. They were becoming more like him by the day as they started to steal and become petty thieves and muggers.

  Missy had no choice there was only one thing left that she could turn to, she started selling her body out on the streets, going back with strange men to their houses never bringing them back to her house for fear of what they might do. She was scared but quickly got the hang of it cutting the cord from her conscious mind and her emotions.

  After a while she ended up at the saloon working shifts. It paid better than the streets and it was a lot safer as well. Jack listened intently to everything that Missy had said, absorbed into her story he really felt a strong connection to her past. He had gone through many problems as well and it was good to have someone to relate to who had also had to put up with a lot in their lives too. Jack didn’t speak about his past that night even though he wanted to and Missy asked questions. He felt it was better he stayed quite for now, maybe at some point in the distant future he would tell missy what had happened and who he really was but he needed to get to know her better before then. Still Jack was glad that he was thinking of the future, it was something that he had not done for a long while. He returned to his room that night feeling happy and satisfied. They had arranged to meet again that following evening at the same time and he couldn’t wait. For the first time in his life he was genuinely happy in someone else’s company. Maybe he could get through this, maybe he could fight this battle and come out victorious.

  Jack had fallen into a deep slumber that night comforted by his talk with Missy and his thoughts of how the future could now turn out for him. Unfortunately his mind was not being quite as kind. Jack tossed and turned in his bed sheets as dark and evil dreams flooded his mind. He was unable to stop the thoughts from manifesting themselves into visions behind his sleeping eyes. Jack was in a cold sweat as he dreamt of the girl locked away in the cruel cellars of the feeding house. He dreamt of feeding. He could see the subtle white flesh and the satisfaction of that first bite, the scream of his victim and the oozing of the blood as it gushed into his parched mouth. The satisfaction seemed immense as every drop ran down his eager throat.

  Jack awoke in a panic but remained motionless. He could feel the urge to feed slowly receding but it was stronger than ever. Even once for the most part it had disappeared. Jack couldn’t take it, he felt sick to his stomach and his head throbbed with pain. He needed to feed. He felt it in his bones it was like a terrible unrelenting hunger that wouldn’t leave. The final stages of the transformation were taking place and Jack knew that he was now for the moment extremely dangerous around anyone that he may encounter. Jack most likely would not be able to control himself in the state that he was currently in, he was too far gone.

  Thoughts began to race around his mind. Maybe one feed wouldn’t be that bad, just find someone no one cared about, that no one knew. Surely they wouldn’t be missed after all that would be better than feeding upon someone nearby. He could easily get caught out for doing that and then it would all be over. Thoughts like these ran through Jacks mind as he lay there on his bed but it didn’t sound like his voice it was almost as if another was telling him to do these terrible things. It was as if the hunger had gained a voice and was now telling Jack what do to take the pain away. He needed fresh air. He needed to get away from this and get out of this mind frame. He could beat this. Jack had suppressed the urge once and was sure that he could do it again no matter how strong it was now.

  Jack got himself up and out of bed. The hunger made him feel arthritic and crippled his joints clicked and his stomach roared in protest. Jack pulled back the curtains and opened the window wide revealing the night time city scape to him. The stars shone brightly in the sky. Lights from the houses and streets mimicked the ones in the sky. A cool breeze brushed Jacks face softly and he took a deep breath of the crisp night air it made him feel relaxed and pushed the thoughts of feeding to the back of his mind as he paused for a moment to look at the city and feel the cool breeze across his face. It ebbed and flowed along his skin just like the sea upon the shore.

  Jack looked down at the street below him. He took in the details of the buildings opposite. It was the first time that he had properly looked at the world outside of the saloon for quite a while and he tried to take in the surroundings. Jack looked across at a street lamp that shone brightly at the corner of the road. Previously he had thought that the streets were deserted at this time of night but it turned out on closer inspection that there was in fact a figure standing just away from the light of the lamp. If it wasn’t for that it was doubtful that he would have noticed the person standing there.

  Jack looked closer at the figure he didn’t know why but he began to get an unnerving feeling about the person standing there. It almost looked as though they were looking straight up at Jack as he hung his head outside of the window. The figure was dressed in full black, a large black hat covered his face for the most part but then Jack saw the teeth; they shone in the dim lamp light and were not teeth at all those were fangs. The man staring up at Jack was a vampire.

  Jack knew instantly what was going on it was obvious that Dreno had sent spies to watch his every movement and check in with him so that he could make sure that Jack was dead. But Jack did not worry about this as he stared down looking at the vampire he was worried about something much worse than that. These vampires would try and make sure that Jack was smoked out, they would no doubt set traps and place bait.

  A great rage built up inside of Jack as he watched the vampire down below, he wanted them gone. Things were hard enough already without them trying to ruin everything. The vampire had obviously noticed Jacks suspicious look
as without a moment’s hesitation the mysterious vampire that had been watching him began to take off down the street running as fast as his legs could carry him. Jack threw the door of his room open and didn’t turn back to close it. He sprinted down the stairs ignoring everyone still in the bar who no doubt wondered where he was going in such a hurry. He ran out of the door and onto the street, the vampire was still just about in sight as Jack began to give chase.

  Jack ran after the shadowy figure trying to figure out if he had seen that particular vampire before but he didn’t know, obviously he was quite a low rank and so might not have come to the attention of Jack while he was at the feeding house but still he seemed vaguely familiar, Jack jumped over obstacles and ran down back alleys in pursuit of the vampire who had been spying on him and as he did so he realised where he remembered him from, his memories flooded back to him playing in front of his eyes it was so obvious now how could have he missed it.

  The vampire had been in the saloon the whole time, sitting there watching his every movement from the dark recesses of the shadowy corner seats of the bar keeping himself to himself the whole while. This should have been the sort of thing that Jack had remembered. He should have been more observant. He always had been a stickler for noticing the detail in things before as it came in handy with being a harvester but obviously with the condition that he was in at the saloon for the past few days the vampires sharp features, dark clothing and pale skin had slipped past his notice. He kicked himself for not realising as he tried to pick up his pace.

  Both Jack and the vampire that he was in pursuit of were running faster than any human could possibly run even at their top speed. Both of them moving with a great agility, like time was just that bit slower for them allowing them to easily move past obstructions and think carefully about every step. The vampire moved much quicker than Jack however and was soon disappearing off into the distance. Even without the head start the vampire still seemed physically superior to Jack who was still regaining his strength after his transformation.

  Jack slowed his pace to a crawl and then finally, feeling all hope of catching up failing, stopped completely and began to pant for air as he spat on the floor. He watched as the vampire continued to run at full pace into the distance until he was no longer visible. The chase had not lasted long but Jack was completely worn out. He realised, as he regained his breath, that he was nowhere near ready yet to attempt such feats of endurance and strength. He needed to rest more. Still at least he now knew that there were vampires following him and he would keep a close eye out for anymore. The thought of Dreno’s spies watching him unnerved him, though as Dreno wanted him dead and it would not be long provided he survived longer, that Dreno gave the order for them to try and kill him. He had to find a way out.

  Jack began to walk back to the saloon it was late into the night now and he was tired. His body could take no more and he barely had enough energy to walk. With every step it felt as though he was climbing the steep incline of a mountain. It was then half way back to the saloon that the urge to feed came back to him once again. His body needed it, his legs buckled beneath him they would go no further until he had recharged. His eyes began to hurt, a swell of black and white light filled his vision and his head went light. The urge was just as strong as it had been in the saloon and this time he had little ability to resist, Jack could smell blood now he didn’t know how or why but he could smell the people in the houses that surrounded him asleep in their beds. He could feel there pulse throbbing inside of his head and he could feel his want to extinguish it and take their lives.

  Jack shook his head in protest regaining some of his conscious as he pushed his fingers deep into his temples trying to stop the sound of the people’s heart beats. Jack looked next to him. A stray dog was running along into the dark recesses of the alley way that was next to him. Jack knew it was looking for food too and decided to follow it down. He could hear it chewing on something meaty and wondered what it could be.

  Jack approached the dog and saw that it had found half a dead pig obviously thrown away from the restaurant that backed onto the alley way. Maggots crawled from its eye sockets and it was covered in flies. It had to only have been a couple of days old but obviously with the heat of the city on it, it would not take long for it to decompose. It looked disgusting but blood flowed from its insides and appeared in Jacks eyes to be a gastronomic delight.

  Jack was far too deep into his want to feed and could not take it any longer he justified to himself that at least he was not feeding on a human at least this was a pig and a dead one at that. He hoped that it would at least help his pain even just a little bit, well enough to take away the pain until he could find something better to do about it. But for now he had to feed.

  Jack pushed aside the dog. It growled at him, trying to protect its food, but as Jack bent down he returned with a vampiric growl of his own, its sound blasphemous as his eyes turned black and he revealed his fangs. The dog yelped and ran off into the light of the street. Jack raised his head the anticipation of the meal before him made every part of his body tingle.

  He sunk his fangs deep into the fleshy meal that lay before him and bit down hard feeling the blood ooze into his waiting mouth, the taste was metallic but refreshed Jack in ways that he felt previously impossible, he felt like a new man. Franticly ripping at the meat, absorbing as much blood as he could manage to get from the pig, he took little notice of its condition. To any other it was spoiled but to him it was special, it was the meal that he had been waiting for so long.

  After around five minutes Jack once again raised his head and his fangs retracted seemingly by themselves his eyes returned to their normal colour. He sat there for a moment, light headed from the relief of a meal, his clothes and mouth covered in blood. The urge had left him completely and although he was full he did not feel wholly satisfied. He knew that he couldn’t be as it was not human blood it was not what he truly needed to survive but it was a good short term fix and it would have to do for now until he could figure something out.

  Jack looked down momentarily at the carcass which was now destroyed beyond recognition. Its ribcage torn wide opened where Jack had feasted upon the blood of the heart and other vital organs, its head now splattered across the floor where Jack had sucked the juices of the brain dry. It was late into the night now and Jack decided it would be best if he cleaned his clothes and washed before he returned in secret to the saloon that night. He had already attracted enough attention by running out of the door earlier, he didn’t need any more whispers about him. He felt however as he began the long walk back that he needed to get out of there soon and hide somewhere safe. Everything was becoming far too dangerous in the saloon now and it would not be long before it reached breaking point.

  It had been a long night for Missy there were a lot of men in the saloon that night. All of them full of drink and none of them it seemed possessed any self-control, there must have been some occasion in town for them to be out in such force buying drinks like there was no tomorrow some of the men had even been thrown out that evening for being a bit too drunk and being a bit too hands on.

  Missy gathered her things thinking about Jack, news had spread around about his sudden departure that night and she wondered if he was ok. It seemed that there were strong feelings beginning to build between the two of them and the patrons of the bar had noticed this some of her regular customers had gone with other girls that night, not brave enough to face the possible wrath of the madman that lived upstairs but missy didn’t mind she was willing to sacrifice a bit of money for the possibility of a future with this mystery man. However it might go she wanted to stay by his side.

  It was late, about an hour after Jack had ran out the doors in pursuit of the man standing outside, when Missy finally waved good night to her fellow staff and went through the door heading for home. It was a surprisingly cold night and she felt a chill on her skin, it wasn’t usually like this, she had walked home hundreds of times
and although it wasn’t recommended, as the streets are quite dangerous at this time of night, she was a tough girl and wasn’t afraid of anything well not usually anyway.

  Tonight was different. Missy had an uneasy feeling about walking the streets as if somewhere in the shadows there was someone watching her every move. The shadows of the buildings around her seemed to cast evil shapes as the orange light bounced off of them from the street lamps. She looked around herself trying to see if anyone was there with her trying to see this invisible watcher. More shadows moved about her, noticing them from the corner of her eye she darted around to see the figure that was no longer there.

  She tried to persuade herself that it was nothing that she was just over tired and it had been a busy day that her childish imagination was playing tricks on her. There was no reason to be afraid of the dark but no matter what excuse she used to try and make herself feel better it always led back to that overwhelming fear that something bad was on the horizon. She picked up her pace trying not to look back as she went. She could now feel the eyes on her back burning into her like someone was stood right behind her.

  Her heart pounded in her chest as she began to break into a run madly looking up and down every building seeing shadowy figures move between them like ghosts in the night. Her mind swam in a sea of bad dreams and terrible thoughts as she turned a corner; it was more dimly lit down here but she continued regardless trying to reassure herself that it would all be alright.

  Missy turned her back the fear had swelled inside of her beyond belief and she could not take it anymore she span around trying to see who was watching her hopefully she would catch them out. Maybe it was just one of the men from the saloon that night one of the ones who had been to hands on for their own good and had ended up getting kicked out; but once again no one stood there. She turned back around and tried to continue on her way but walked straight into something hard. Looking up it was a man stood there dead in front of her, well at least she thought it was a man, something seemed wrong about his face. He was pale and dressed all in black like Jack was, like the strange men that brought him in.